Generally, a notebook computer (also referred to as “a notebook”) has an advantage of good portability, so it is very convenient for a person who is being on a business trip or who do his/her work on the road. Recently, places such as universities, public offices, hotels, etc. have been equipped with many communication systems to which a note-type PC can access to use.
Unlike a desk-top computer which is used on the desk, the notebook computer has a hinged structure consisting of a main body part containing the processor, battery, etc. and a monitor part displaying text or images thereon. The main body part is integrally provided with a keyboard as an input device on a main frame, and the monitor part is integrally provided with a thin display panel fixed to a monitor frame.
In the meantime, a notebook computer having a built-in camera to transmit images to a recipient has been developed disclosed.
A conventional camera device built in a notebook computer is disclosed in Korean Patent Application No. 20-2001-0029212 filed on Sep. 21, 2001. The camera device includes a camera provided at a central portion of a part of a monitor frame of a monitor section opposite to a part coupled to a main section for picking-up an image of a target, wherein one end of a signal line is connected to the camera to transmit an image signal picked-up by the camera to the main section, wherein a monitor-side hole is provided at the central portion of the part of the monitor frame such that one end of the camera is rotatably hinge-coupled into the monitor-side hole, wherein a through-hole is provided in the part of the monitor frame coupled to the main section such that the other end of the signal line is connected to the main section through the through-hole of the monitor frame, and wherein a main section-side hole is provided at a central portion of a part of a main section frame opposite to a part coupled to a monitor section to accommodate the camera therein when the monitor section is folded so as to allow the camera to move towards the main section.
However, the camera device for a notebook computer has no camera cover to protect the camera, causing problems that the camera is easily damaged by external shock, and if so, the cost for replacement of the damaged camera occurs.
Particularly in a conventional notebook computer, a built-in camera has been widely hacked so that a user's private image data is leaked out. As known in the art, there have been approximately 73,000 cameras vulnerable to security features in the world, and the number thereof has been on the rise. Tens of thousands of hacked image files haven been uploaded onto a personal webcam hacking site, ‘insecam’, from about 120 countries, and among them, many private images from places such as an office, a clothing shop, a swimming pool, a fitness center, etc. have been uploaded.
Such a webcam hacking is conducted by a remote access to a webcam via an IP address if connected to an Internet, or by duping a user into downloading malicious codes via e-mail or from a website if a webcam is connected to a computer. To prevent this hacking, virus vaccine programs should be installed, or otherwise a user should not access suspicious files or links.
However, since problems still exist in such virus vaccine programs which cannot catch all of malicious codes, and it is often difficult to identify such suspicious files or links, a reliable solution is required so as to physically prevent hacking of a notebook computer's built-in camera.